Crate



(No Model.)

Gr.` T. HALL.

GRATE.

rus Noms paens nu., muvo-mnu.,vwAsHmnTcN, n. u4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE T. HALL, OF MONROVIA, CALIFORNIA.

CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 428,840, dated May 2'7, 1890.

Application filed March 8, 1890. Serial No. 343,093. (No model.)

.T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE T. HALL, residing at Monrovia, Los Angeles county, and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Crates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to crates, and particularly to that class thereof known as slatted crates, usually employed in the transportation of fruits, vegetables, and the like. Heretofore in this class of crates it has been found that the vcontents are very often more or less injured by insects and other herbivorous beings, and also that in returning th e crates the partitions employed to divide the contents are frequently omitted from the same.

The objects of my invention, therefore, are to remove these evils attending the use of this class of crates; and with these objects in View my invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the various parts, hereinafter more fully described, shown, and claimed. f

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure l is a top plan view of my improved crate, the lid being thrown back and also the top partition. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of my crate, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse View of the same.

In carrying out my invention I employ an ordinary slatted crate A, having the slatted or perforated sides B, bottom O, the cover D, and the solid end pieces E E, all of which parts may be of any approved or well-known pattern.

To protect the contents of the crate against external disturbances I employ a lining'F of wire-gauze, said wire-gauze being secured by tacking o r otherwise to the inner sides of the sides and bottom, preferably at each slat, and to the inner face of the cover is secured a similar lining F', said lining extending over a sufficient portion of the cover to meet the end pieces E E and sides B when the cover is down, whereby all possibility of insects entering the crate isprevented.

In a crate constructed as described a free circulation of air is always to be had, thus preserving the contents of the crate, and it will of course be understood that I do notl limit myself to such means of securing the strips, but may retain them in any suitable manner. Resting upon the strips e e are a series of partitions 'G G, dividing the crate 'into sections, and each partition is formed in two sections g g', the section g being rigidly secured to the strips e e., while the section g is loosely connected to the rigid section g and adapted to be moved to one side, whereby aecess may be had to the lower portions of the crate. The rigid and movable sections are connected by means of a hinge 7L, and the movable sections are formed of a series of hinged sub-sections connected by the hinges h', thereby allowing a movable section of considerable width to be folded beneath a low partition.

From the above description it will readily be seen that I provide a crate in which the partitions serve their purpose of dividing the crate into sections and can also be folded to afford access to the lower portions of the crate, but cannot be removed and displaced.

In packing, the fruit -or other material is placed upon the bottom and the bottom covered. The lowest folding section is then turned down and the lowest partition covered. The next lowest section is then turned down, and so on until the crate is lled, when the cover is turned down and secured in any suitable manner. In unpacking the operation is simply reversed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a crate having solid ends, of transverse strips secured to the inner sides of said solid ends, partitions se- IOO ofjvire-gauze for the slatted portions, and partitions secured to the solid ends, said partitions having a hinged section, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture,

a fruit-crate having solid end pieces and slatted sides, top, and bottom, and a lining of Wire-gauze for the slatted portions, transverse strips upon the inner sides oi' the solid ends, partitions secured to the said strips, each partition consisting of a rigid section secured to the strips and a hinged section hinged to the rigid section, said hinged section consisting of a series of hinged subsections, substantially as and for the purpose described.

GEGRGE T. HALL.

Witnesses:

C. E. SLossoN, B. ARTHUR. 

